Cattle-guard for railways.



No. 685,693. Patented Oct; 29, 1901;

s. A. BUDDELL. CATTLE GUARD FOR'RAILWAYS. (Application and M31. 111961.)

(No Model.)

NITEED STATES I ATEN :1. FFI CE SIMON A. RUDDELL, or nA'rEsvILLE,ARKANSAS.

CATTLE-GUARD FOR RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming'part of Letters retentive. 685,693, dated cc-tater29, 196i. Application filed March 11, 1901. Serial No. 50,671. (Nomodel.)

To-ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMON A. RUDDELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Bates ville, county of Independence, State ofArkansas, have invented certain new and use f 111 Improvements inCattle-Guards for Railways, of which the followingis a specification; Myinvention relates to cattle-guards for railways.

The object of the present invention is the provision of a cattle-guardwhich will be of few parts, all of strong and durable construction, andadapted for'positive and easy action whereby the device will be adaptedto sat isfactorily withstand the jar and strains to which it will besubjected by repeated operation.

The invention contemplates the provision of a cattle-guard of novelconstructionwhich I will be operated by a tread-rail on the approach ofthe train and automatically thrown upward and out of the way andafterward automatically returned to closed position by the action of themechanisms constitutingits component parts.

The invention consists of an automatic cattle-guard comprising certainimproved features and novel combinations of parts, more fully set forthhereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing theapplication of the invention, the gate being shown in its normal loweredposition; Fig. 2, a front elevation with certain parts in section, thegate be-" ing in lowered position; Fig. 3, a detail of the tread-rail;Fig. at, a section on line as 00 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 a detail view ofthe parts for returning the gate to lowered position after it has beenraised by a passing train. 7

At the point where the cattle-guard is located one of the rails, 1, isof the ordinary form, but the other rail, 2, is made with a double web,constituting a box-like structure, in which are located the tread-rails3 and 4, which operate the guard or gate, said rails be ing pivoted at 5at their ends farthest from the gate, while their inner ends areprovided with tongues 6 and 7, which are overlapped and cut away, asmore clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and are free to move up and down,guided by the webs of the rail or box 2. At the outer side of the rail 2is a short post 8, to

I which the gate 9 is pivoted at 10, so that it can swing upward andassume a vertical posi tion on the approach of a train.

Numeral ll designates an operating-bar, which is provided with a foot12, having a slot 13, in which loosely plays a boltlt, passing' into abed-plate 15, on which the foot is adapted to slide. The bar extendsthrough a slot 16 in the webs of the rail 2 and through the'notch 17*betweemthe ends of the treadrails 3 and 4 'andnnder th'e'portions 6 and'7. A link 18 connects the end of the barwith the gate on "the side ofits fulcrum or pivot 10 opposite the rail, so that depression of the bar11 will cause the gate to be swung upwardly. Such a depression of thebar is 1 brought about by the weight of the train on thetread-rails 3and 4, (which can beof any desired length,) as said tread-rails willbear down on the bar when depressed, the foot 12 of the bar meanwhilesliding on the bed-plate to a slight extent.

Below thetie or sleeper is located aguidebox 19, in which works avertical push-bolt 20, carrying a cross-piece 21at its upper end underits head, said cross-piece extending at right angles to the bar 11 andsupporting it and being guided in its vertical movements by the two websof the rail 2. A stout coilspring 22 is interposed between theguidepushed up to the top of the slots 16 and to maintain thetread-rails in raised position.

The pressure of this spring is conveyed through the rigid bar 11 andrigid link 18 to the gate or guard, whereby the latter is held normallydown across the track.

The gate being normally down and across the track, on the approach of atrain from either direction and the depression of the tread-rails theoperating-bar will be forced downward against the action of the springand the gate jerked up toa vertical position, where it-will remain untilthe train has passed off the tread-rails, whereupon the spring willforce the operating-bar up, which through the medium of the link willforce the gate down to its horizontal position, assisted by the weightof the gate itself. movements the tread-rails are guided and Duringthese prevented from becoming displaced by the double-webbedconstruction of the rail 2, while the overlapping arrangement of theparts 6 and 7 insures the downward movement of both tread-railssimultaneously and an even pressure between the operating-bar and them,and at the same time the provision of the cross-piece 21 absolutelyprevents displacement of the push-bolt from under the operating-bar andinsures the guiding of the said push-bolt. The sliding movement of thefoot 12 and the slight upward play at this point are provided for by theslot-and-bolt action.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a cattle-guard, the combination with a pivoted, vertical swinginggate, of a trackrail having a double web, tread-rails having their webslying between the webs of the track-rail and pivoted thereto, saidtread-rails having overlapping projections at their contiguous ends, avertically-movable operatingbar playing in a transverse slot in the websof the track-rail and supporting the projecting, overlapping ends ofthe, tread-rails, a link connecting said operating-bar to the gate, anda spring mechanism for holding the operating-bar normally raised.

2. In a cattle-guard, the combination with a track-rail having a doubleweb, of guardrails having their webs lying between its parts and pivotedthereto, an operating-bar extending transversely through the track-railand movable vertically and supporting the contiguous ends of thetread-rails, a vertically-movable push-bolt between the webs of thetrack-rail, a cross head or piece on the ceases bolt, extendinglengthwise of the track-rail and guided by the webs thereof, a springfor holding said push-bolt normally raised,where by the operatingbarandtread-rails are held up, a pivoted gate and a link connecting said gatewith the operating-bar.

The herein-described cattle-guard, comprising a track-rail having adouble Web; tread-rails having their Webs located between the Webs ofthe track-rail and pivoted there to, but free at their contiguous endsand there provided with projecting, overlapping portions,anoperating-bar extending transversely through the track-rail andsupporting the overlapping ends of the tread-rails, a pivotedvertically-moving gate, a link connecting the gate with one end of theoperating-bar, the other end of said operatingbar being provided with afoot having a slot, a bed-plate on which the foot rests, a bolt passingloosely through the slot and into thebed-plate, where by the foot canslide, a gate, a push-bolt slid able vertically in said guide and upbetween the webs of the track-rail and under the operating-bar, a crosshead or piece on said push-bolt which is disposed at right angles to theoperating-bar and is movable between and guided by the webs of thetrack-rail, and a coil-spring surrounding the push-bolt and keeping thesame normally urged upward, whereby the gate is maintained in loweredposition.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

SIMON A. RUDDELL.

W'itnesses HERMAN SoI-Io'r'r, J. RICH.

